The present disclosure relates generally to the field of temperature-controlled storage devices such as refrigerators, freezers, refrigerated display cases and the like. The present disclosure relates more particularly to a pivoting mullion for a temperature-controlled storage device.
A mullion is a vertical bar dividing a door opening, window, or other opening into two smaller openings (e.g., a left-side opening and a right-side opening). Traditionally, mullions have been used with French-style doors (e.g., doors that are hingedly connected to opposite sides of a door opening) to create a central support surface against which the doors can rest in a sealed fashion when the doors are in a closed position.
Typical mullions are fixed within the opening (i.e., stationary) and cannot be easily moved or removed. Stationary mullions permanently divide an opening of a temperature-controlled storage device into two smaller openings, thereby limiting the size and shape of items that can be transported through the opening and reducing accessibility to the interior of the temperature-controlled storage device.
This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.